Scrapers and other earth-moving apparatus of the general type to which the present invention relates are known. Representative examples of earth-moving scrapers include, without limitation, the scrapers disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,383,380, 4,388,769, 4,398,363, 4,553,608 and 6,347,670 to Miskin, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. A typical scraper includes a frame having a front end, two opposing sides and at least two wheels connected to the opposing sides. A bucket for holding soil removed from the earth is connected to the frame. The bucket includes a floor, two opposing sidewalls, an open front and an open top. A blade is located adjacent the front edge of the floor of the bucket for cutting the earth to a predetermined depth as the earth-moving apparatus is moved forward over the earth's surface. The soil cut from the earth by the blade is collected in the bucket. When the bucket is full of soil, the scraper is transported to another location where the soil is deposited.
The soil is removed from the bucket of the scrapers in different ways. For instance, moving back scrapers, sweep scrapers, open bottom dump scrapers and dump scrapers are known. For instance, an ejector scraper has a moving wall or ejector assembly which pushes the soil out of the bucket. An example of an ejector scraper is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,041,528 assigned to Harvey Mfg. Corp., which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein. An example of a sweep scraper is an elevating-type scraper that discharges soil collected in the bucket by moving members, or slats, across of the floor of the bucket. An exemplary sweep scraper is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,934,360, assigned to Westinghouse Air Brake Company, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein. In an open bottom dump scraper, the bucket of the scraper is tilted to dump the soil out of an open end of the bucket. Examples of pull-type, bottom dump scrapers include construction scrapers disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,383,380, 4,388,769, 4,398,363, 4,553,608 and 6,347,670 to Miskin, discussed previously herein.
A pull-type scraper or earth-moving apparatus may have an elongated tongue attached to a frame. The tongue may be connected to a tractor that tows the scraper or the earth-moving apparatus. The tongue may be connected to a tractor with a hitch or may include a so-called rigid gooseneck that pivots and is attached to the tractor. Alternatively, the scraper may include a front set of “dolly” wheels or may be attached to a separate dolly that attaches to a tractor. Other scrapers or other earth-moving apparatuses are self-propelled.
When the scraper or earth-moving apparatus is moved forward over the surface of the earth and the blade is lowered, the blade cuts the soil and delivers the soil to the bucket. The soil travels over the upper surface of the blade and into the bucket. However, for various reasons, the soil may be hindered from collecting in the bucket during delivery of the soil to the bucket and prevent freshly cut soil from being stored in the bucket. For instance, when the scraper or earth-moving apparatus is operated under dry conditions or in powdery soils, as the bucket fills, the collected soil may accumulate as a clump of loose material. The clump of loose material may be difficult to displace with additional loose soil, preventing freshly cut soil from entering the bucket. Another problem may arise when the soil is unloaded from the bucket since the soil may stick to the bucket or clump together to obstruct the collected soil from exiting the bucket.
Thus, a need exists for a device or an improved earth-moving apparatus that allows the soil to enter or exit the scraper or earth-moving apparatus while reducing clogging during a scraping or unloading process.